Re: Adoption of 2002 and AFCI Breakers
I believe you ?may? eliminate the AFCI requirement, in the sense that you have the authority to do so. But as to ?should? versus ?should not,? you are entirely on your own.
Members of this forum can give their technical views and can relate their professional experiences. But you are talking about the ESTABLISHMENT (and not the ENFORCEMENT) of law. That is beyond the experience of most (if not all) of our membership, and is certainly beyond my own experience. So I beg that you will understand any comments you receive to represent the personal opinions of the contributors. If (Heaven forbid) someone in your town is injured in a fire, and if their house did not have AFCI protection as required in the 2002 NEC, then I don?t want anyone to look to our membership as being at fault for not having ?talked you into? keeping that requirement in effect in your local jurisdiction.
My own opinion is that the requirement should be left as-is. My reasoning is simple: There was (I have to trust) a good reason for the requirement to have been put into the code, and I can offer no good reason for removing it. Sure, it adds to the cost of electrical work. Is there sufficient benefit to warrant the extra cost? I believe that only time will answer that question. Does it reduce safety? I have never heard that it does. Does it increase the chance of nuisance trips? It does. Is there sufficient benefit to warrant the extra chance of nuisance trips? I believe that only time will answer that question too.
Charlie B.
p.s. I suspect you have a typo and meant ?1999,? as there was no 1989 NEC.
